Polymer Capital Management US LLC Buys New Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 375,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,785,000. NiSource accounts for about 3.7% of Polymer Capital Management US LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $37.23 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.26 and a 52-week high of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.09.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Profile

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.